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The Sleeper
Former soldier Ash Sanders is plagued by violent nightmares. Gunfire. Explosions. Blood. A nameless attacker. In his nightmare, Ash fights off his attacker, killing him.
In the morning, he wakes to find his wife lying in bed beside him. Murdered.
Ash is about to take the fall for his wife’s death until he’s exonerated by sleep psychologist Mina Irving. She discovers that Ash has a variation of REM Behavior Disorder called sleep violence and that he had no control over what he was doing. But, while the disorder is real, Ash’s symptoms don’t quite match up with any of Mina’s other patients.
Something else is going on.
Ash has memories of a life he doesn’t understand. And dreams that don’t make sense.
People are following him.
They want what’s in his mind.
And will kill him to get it.
The Sleeper is the first technothriller novel by the acclaimed Sleep Doctor, Dr. Michael Breus.
In the morning, he wakes to find his wife lying in bed beside him. Murdered.
Ash is about to take the fall for his wife’s death until he’s exonerated by sleep psychologist Mina Irving. She discovers that Ash has a variation of REM Behavior Disorder called sleep violence and that he had no control over what he was doing. But, while the disorder is real, Ash’s symptoms don’t quite match up with any of Mina’s other patients.
Something else is going on.
Ash has memories of a life he doesn’t understand. And dreams that don’t make sense.
People are following him.
They want what’s in his mind.
And will kill him to get it.
The Sleeper is the first technothriller novel by the acclaimed Sleep Doctor, Dr. Michael Breus.
418 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2024
86 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 15, 2024
I received this book from the authors (Dr. MIchael Breus and Sean Platt), their publishing company (Starling and Stone) and the fine folks at NetGalley.com in return for an honest review.
This technothriller starts out reading like a book detailing some of the horrors that have been felt by the brave men and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan as a former soldier, Ash Sanders, details some of the sleep troubles that he has faced since returning home.
Former soldier Ash Sanders is plagued by violent nightmares. Gunfire. Explosions. Blood. A nameless attacker. In his nightmare, Ash fights off his attacker, killing him.
In the morning, he wakes to find his wife lying in bed beside him. Murdered.Ash is about to take the fall for his wife’s death until he’s exonerated by sleep psychologist Mina Irving. She discovers that Ash has a variation of REM Behavior Disorder called sleep violence and that he has no control over what he is doing. But, while the disorder is real, Ash’s symptoms don’t quite match up with any of Mina’s other patients.
Then the novel does an about-face as we learn that he is a veteran of the CIA who is part of a select program, called the Bespokery, where this arm of the intelligence community has utilized the Wurtzman Principle to be able to affect the subconscious and dreams of individuals to create an army of assassins to perform "wet work" in countries around the world. Based on this plot, I draw parallels between this novel and The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon (1959).
The plot of the book deals with the senior members of The Bespokery as they try to recover the algorithm, known as The Protocol, that was taken from their group and hidden within the minds of one of five operatives (with four false leads) to try to take the power from this organization.
The plot is complex and deep and nothing is as it seems. I would give this book a solid four stars out of five and would highly recommend it to to fans of technothrillers by writers such as Michael Crichton and Dan Brown.
As with all my literary ramblings, this is just my five cents worth.
This technothriller starts out reading like a book detailing some of the horrors that have been felt by the brave men and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan as a former soldier, Ash Sanders, details some of the sleep troubles that he has faced since returning home.
Former soldier Ash Sanders is plagued by violent nightmares. Gunfire. Explosions. Blood. A nameless attacker. In his nightmare, Ash fights off his attacker, killing him.
In the morning, he wakes to find his wife lying in bed beside him. Murdered.Ash is about to take the fall for his wife’s death until he’s exonerated by sleep psychologist Mina Irving. She discovers that Ash has a variation of REM Behavior Disorder called sleep violence and that he has no control over what he is doing. But, while the disorder is real, Ash’s symptoms don’t quite match up with any of Mina’s other patients.
Then the novel does an about-face as we learn that he is a veteran of the CIA who is part of a select program, called the Bespokery, where this arm of the intelligence community has utilized the Wurtzman Principle to be able to affect the subconscious and dreams of individuals to create an army of assassins to perform "wet work" in countries around the world. Based on this plot, I draw parallels between this novel and The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon (1959).
The plot of the book deals with the senior members of The Bespokery as they try to recover the algorithm, known as The Protocol, that was taken from their group and hidden within the minds of one of five operatives (with four false leads) to try to take the power from this organization.
The plot is complex and deep and nothing is as it seems. I would give this book a solid four stars out of five and would highly recommend it to to fans of technothrillers by writers such as Michael Crichton and Dan Brown.
As with all my literary ramblings, this is just my five cents worth.
March 24, 2024
Thought provoking, terrifying.
We all know the government does things that are not quite right —— in their belief that it is for the good of all?
We know that some people believe they have the power and the backing to do as they please, to play god?.
To not know if you believe yourself to be in the present, in the now, or just in a dream (nightmare).
It left me thinking about the scene from MIB- remember? Where a whole world was contained inside a locker in the train / bus station?
Who says we actually get up and leave our homes; drive to work; do jobs we hate or love— and return home at the end of the day.
Who’s to say we aren’t just home all day “dreaming” we did those things - day after day?
I believe I read the book - I believe it triggered some intense thoughts. I believe you should read it too.
See you in my dreams.
We all know the government does things that are not quite right —— in their belief that it is for the good of all?
We know that some people believe they have the power and the backing to do as they please, to play god?.
To not know if you believe yourself to be in the present, in the now, or just in a dream (nightmare).
It left me thinking about the scene from MIB- remember? Where a whole world was contained inside a locker in the train / bus station?
Who says we actually get up and leave our homes; drive to work; do jobs we hate or love— and return home at the end of the day.
Who’s to say we aren’t just home all day “dreaming” we did those things - day after day?
I believe I read the book - I believe it triggered some intense thoughts. I believe you should read it too.
See you in my dreams.
April 16, 2024
The novel tells the story of Ash Sanders, a former CIA soldier who wakes up next to his dead wife and becomes the prime suspect in her murder. A sleep psychologist tries to help him with his violent nightmares, and Ash begins to remember fragments of memories buried deep in his subconscious. He soon discovers that he was part of a government program that manipulated the subconscious and dreams of individuals to create a team of assassins. The plot revolves around the recovery of the algorithm used to program these individuals, which was stolen and concealed within the minds of the operatives. The book explores themes of government power, reality, and control.
June 8, 2024
Wow
To be fair, whatever genre this book falls into is not my typical read. That may be why I had so much trouble following the action in the first third of the story. Once more of the puzzle pieces were revealed, I found it quite gripping. If half-stars were possible, I would go 3-1/2 stars because there really ought to have been better proofreading. Still … well worth reading.
To be fair, whatever genre this book falls into is not my typical read. That may be why I had so much trouble following the action in the first third of the story. Once more of the puzzle pieces were revealed, I found it quite gripping. If half-stars were possible, I would go 3-1/2 stars because there really ought to have been better proofreading. Still … well worth reading.
June 28, 2024
Interesting
A lot of good sleep research here mixed in with a good old fashioned espionage story. Not as sci-fi as I initially thought, and made me do some research about sleep and dream science. Good stuff, highly recommend!
A lot of good sleep research here mixed in with a good old fashioned espionage story. Not as sci-fi as I initially thought, and made me do some research about sleep and dream science. Good stuff, highly recommend!
July 1, 2025
ALL in the Mind.
Engaging characters, some likeable and some most definitely not. A disturbingly feasible scenario of mind control where the 'victim ' is unaware of what is happening.
Engaging characters, some likeable and some most definitely not. A disturbingly feasible scenario of mind control where the 'victim ' is unaware of what is happening.
May 18, 2024
Inside the Sleeper
It was well written, quickly drawing me into the story. I felt I was more than a reader, I was a participant.
It was well written, quickly drawing me into the story. I felt I was more than a reader, I was a participant.
Want to read
September 10, 2025DNF at 20%
Tedious and dry. Not for me
Tedious and dry. Not for me
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews